Mastery
by sjepstein
Summary: Luke Skywalker confronts his doubts--and the ghosts of his father, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and... Qui-Gon Jinn.


"Mastery"

A _Star Wars_ Story

Luke Skywalker sat in the living area of his ship, staring at his lightsabre.

The ship—a small Corellian job he'd named the _Father's Heart_, circled Courascent in lazy orbits—on a type of autopilot. That is, with part of his attention, Luke used the Force to keep an eye on the orbit, and to adjust the controls. But he didn't feel much like flying at the moment.

Instead, he was staring at the metal cylinder he held in his metal hand. His lightsabre. _Really_ his—the one he'd made from off-the-shelf parts and a crystal he'd found in Obi-Wan's hut, put together with knowledge he'd gotten from the Force.

That, he knew, had been one of the tests of becoming a Jedi Knight. And one of the last simple skills tests he'd faced.

He knew how to use it. And he knew how it worked. _But what does it _mean? he thought.

He turned it over in his hand. He'd seen some of the Jedi records in the old Temple—his father and the Emperor had at least wanted to preserve the old records—believeing that they belonged to the Sith just as much as the Jedi. And, for most of them, they hadn't bothered moving them. The Temple had always been Force-locked—and they'd simply kept it that way. Only a Jedi—or a Sith, since they believed the Jedi extinct—could get in. Until Luke took down the Force-lock.

He'd seen the records, read the files. But they were… _cold_. The facts would stream by his eyes, but nothing would resonate—not the way it did when Obi-Wan first told him of the Jedi, or when Yoda would—patiently, and again and again—explain the core tenets of Jedi philosophy.

Luke smiled at that. On Dagobah, he'd been so focused on getting Vader—on winning the war, toppling the Empire—that he hadn't cared much about what Yoda was saying. In the end, Yoda _made_ him care. But Luke hadn't thought to ask more questions. At least, not the questions that were occurring to him now.

Like; _what does it mean to be a Jedi?_ He had students now. And soon, his students would have students. Or should he stay on Yavin 4 and keep training them himself, as Yoda did? Should students stay at the academy, or should they re-create the Padawan/apprentice system Luke had seen in the archive records? Should he move the graduated students back to Courascent? Should he move the contents of the Temple to Yavin? Should the answers to these questions come from concerns higher than just the practical?

_The trials of mastery you face now_, he thought. In Yoda's voice, in Yoda's odd construction. As he often did when facing the really big questions.

_Face this alone, you do not_.

Luke looked up. Yoda—translucent and blue, was standing on the table next to him.

_The boy needs only time_, came another voice, one he didn't recognize.

_Time he does not have, Master Qui-Gon_, Yoda said.

Luke turned to his right. Standing, translucent, trimmed in green, was a Jedi Master Luke recognized from the records as Qui-Gon Jinn—Obi-Wan's old master.

_Boy? You're calling him a "boy"? He beat _me_, helped destroy the Sith, and you're still all calling him a "boy"?_ Behind him stood the spectral image of his father—now looking younger than he did.

_Anakin is right_, Qui-Gon said. _Young Luke here is many things. But he is no longer a boy._

_You've done very well in difficult situations, Luke_, Obi-Wan said, appearing in blue in the seat next to him. _You've shown a maturity I didn't have at your age. And nearly as much power as your father. But neither may be enough_.

_He faces challenges none of us had to face alone_.

_How mean you, Master Qui-Gon_?

_We had the Council. Even when we disagreed with its decisions, it was the mark against which we measured our own decisions. Young Luke here has—he has only _us.

_Correct, Master Qui-Gon is. Ready for the burdens of the council, young Skwalker's students aren't. _

"I don't think _I'm _ready for his burden!" Luke burst out.

_Hmm. To determine that, is why we are here._

_That you're asking this question. Luke, does you credit,_ Obi-Wan said.

Luke turned toward the image of Anakin, who was staring at each of them in turn. _I'm sorry, son,_ he said. _I don't know what to say. Self doubt was never one of my weaknesses_.

_Lack of it was_, Yoda said. _As it was your master's_.

_Master Yoda,_ Anakin said, _my soul bears the scars of my mistakes as much as my body did in the last life._

_Chosen one, you were. To exist on both sides. Come back from the Dark Side, no one did ever. Nor again will they._

Luke sat among the blue and green images, listening to their debate. "But these are the questions I don't even know enough to ask!"

_Realizing the limits of your knowledge is the first step on the path to wisdom_, Obi-Wan said.

Luke stood up and walked away—into the cockpit. _Maybe Leia would understand_, he thought. Or even Han. Better than these ghosts, anyway.

_What do you want_? He heard his father's voice ask. Blue-edged Anakin was sitting in the co-pilot seat.

"What?"

_What do you want_? Anakin repeated. _Someone asked _me_ that, once. I gave a very poor answer to it. But it is the basic question you're asking now, isn't it_?

_No, that's not the right question_, Qui-Gon interjected. _Who are you?_

"I'm Luke Skywalker," Luke said. _I've come to rescue you…_ he thought, remembering his first introduction to his sister.

_That's a name. It's not enough_, Qui-Gon replied, and asked again, _Who are you_?

"I am a Jedi," Luke replied. _Like my father before me…_ "I am my father's son."

_Very well. And what does that mean to you_? Qui-Gon said.

Anakin turned away and stared out the porthole.

Qui-Gon saw this, and said, _You finally understand, Anakin._

_I was Padmé's husband. And a Jedi. And I betrayed them both._

_Because they could not be reconciled. You faced a choice, and you chose not to decide—a choice in itself._

_And a bad one, _Anakin said.

Luke turned to face out the _other_ porthole. Could that be Leia's fate, he asked himself? _If I train her, must she leave Han_? _If she is to stay with Han, does that mean she can't be trained_? _Do I have to forget I have a sister—and a brother-in-law and nephews and nieces on the way_? He looked at the image of Anakin, still staring out the window. _I _am_ my father's son—I face the same choice_. He turned toward Qui-Gon. "I am the last of the Jedi," he said, sadly.

_And_? Qui-Gon asked.

"And the first, too, I guess," he replied.

_Of the old, the last. Of the new, the first_, Yoda said.

_Now you can ask what you want. And why you're here_, Qui-Gon said.

"Fine, then. I want to know what I'm supposed to be doing next."

_Your focus controls your reality_, Qui-Gon said. _What you want should flow from who you are. Search your feelings. You know what you should be doing. More importantly, _how.

He looked down from the window. He stared at the ship's controls, but his eyes were focused elsewhere. "The code. The Jedi code. There has to be a new one."

_Found your new mission, you have_, Yoda said, nodding, and tapping the image of his gimmer stick on the deck. _Challenges you will still face. But passed this trial, you have. Grant you the rank of Master, we do_.


End file.
